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Sonoff devices used with dimmers – a fix?

S

Stephen Bunting

started a topic
7 months ago

I have
dimmable LEDs installed in down lighters. Some are connected through wall
switches, which I guess are simple attenuators since there is only a live wire.
Others are connected through RF relays. I have the same issue in both
situations.

The “dimmers”
reduce the voltage supplied to the Sonoff devices (and the LEDs), but the
Sonoff will operate down to 90VAC (in reality, I have measured down to 50VAC),
but the RF relays still need 220V, so I have to connect the Sonoff after the
relay or wall switch and leave the relay / wall switch turned ON.

Problem: When
I trigger the Sonoff device, even when the “dimmer” is turned on to maximum,
the Sonoff device will activate and immediately reset. This is not 100%, maybe
40% of the time. With the RF relays, it also resets the RF relay, but the RF
relay can’t be the cause if this phenomenon because it also occurs with wall
switches.

Several years
ago, I heard of a fix for a problem with LED bulbs where they continue to glow
even when the wall switch is OFF. The fix is to connect a 0.1uF, 250V capacitor
between live and neutral. I had several capacitors left over, so I tried a
capacitor, and IT WORKED.

With a
capacitor connected across the live / neutral input to the Sonoff device, it
would work 100% of the time

Questions to
electrical experts out there:

-Is
this safe? (it’s a capacitor, so essentially open-circuit and only removing
voltage spikes and surges?)

-With
the RF relays (Chacon DiO 54524), the capacitor is connected to the output, but
it stops the RF relay from resetting – any thoughts? Originally I thought the
problem was caused by the RF relay reset (which cuts power to the Sonoff), but
that can’t be the source of the problem because I have the same issue through a
wall switch

Good luck with this
question, and I hope it gives someone a solution to their issue.